The Colorado State Open Thread is hopefully going to be published this year. I don’t know yet. My pen hand got slapped by the monitors and while I’ve been able to make comments and recommend comments, I was told for five hand slaps over my entire career (17 years, 46K written comments and probably more than a million comment recs,) I was permanently losing my ability to post. I asked them for the comment I wasn’t supposed to recommend, and they haven’t written me back yet so I don’t know which comment and I can’t take back my error. I know I didn’t recommend any post that was hidden.
From 9News.com and MSN.com:
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Plastic bags and polystyrene containers
Stores and retail food establishments, places like large chain grocery stores and convenience stores, will be prohibited from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers. The new law is part of House Bill 21-1162 that the Colorado General Assembly enacted in 2021.
On and after Jan. 1, a store in Colorado may furnish only a recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale at a fee of 10 cents per bag — or a higher fee imposed by the municipality or county in which the store is located.
House Bill 21-1162 also prohibits a retail food establishment, on and after Jan. 1, 2024, from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for use as a container for ready-to-eat food in Colorado.
RELATED: Colorado to enact plastic bag ban Jan. 1
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Protections for pet ownership in housing
House Bill 23-1068 limits pet rent to 1% of the owner’s monthly rent or $35 per month, whichever is greater, in addition to capping pet deposits to $300 on top of existing security deposits and making pet deposits refundable.
The law also prohibits homeowner insurance providers from denying policies based on specific dog breeds and would require law enforcement conducting evictions to give any pets present to the tenant or, if the tenant is not there, turn the pets over to a local animal shelter or rescue.
More laws that go into effect Jan. 1 in Colorado:
- HB23-1004: Language access in insurance documents
- HB23-1245: Campaign practices for municipal elections
- HB23-1111: Unauthorized insurance premium tax rate
- HB23-1015: Taxation of tobacco products remote retail sellers
- SB23-040: Staffing agency CAPS checks
- SB23-292: Labor requirements for energy sector construction
- HB23-1022: Registration of vehicles in rental fleets
- HB23-1077: Informed consent to intimate patient examinations
- HB23-1222: Cases of domestic violence in municipal court
- SB23-039: Reduce child and incarcerated parent separation
- SB23-057: County treasurer no longer ex officio district treasurer
- HB23-1186: Remote participation in residential evictions
- SB23-105: Ensure equal pay for equal work
- HB23-1181: Guaranteed asset protection agreements
From Coloradopolitics.com, they also did a rundown of some of the laws that will be in effect, starting today.
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Minimum wage and family leave
Colorado's minimum wage will increase from $13.65 to $14.42 per hour. The hourly rate for tipped employees will increase from $10.63 to $11.40 per hour.
Beginning Jan. 1, many Colorado employees will be eligible to file for benefits for the first time under the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act, adopted under a 2020 voter-approved ballot measure.
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I don’t know why (other than manufacturers getting and bribing with money) this was ever a thing that needed fixing, but I wholeheartedly support this law: Farmers and ranchers will have the ability to repair their own agricultural equipment, under HB 23-1011. The law requires manufacturers of ag equipment to provide parts, software, firmware, tools, or documentation to ag equipment owners or independent repair shops. Now, can we please get this expanded for all manufacturers?
- Beginning Jan. 1, medical providers must obtain informed consent from patients before conducting intimate examinations of that patient when they are sedated or unconscious under HB 23-1077.
That’s all I’m going to list to try and keep within fair use, but please click the links for 9News.com and ColoradoPolitics.com if you’d like to see the rest they listed.
Also, since it came up on my screen, there were several advertisements titled “Colorado Drivers are Pissed About This New Rule Change”. I clicked the link so you, my dear readers, won’t have to wonder. It’s a website trying to get you to change insurance providers to one that provides discounts if you drive in certain zip codes, if you have a relatively modern car and one or two other reasons. I trust you all to make proper decisions about your auto insurance and not to click on a link just because it’s a web ad.
I hope you all benefit or at least don’t run afoul of any of these law changes. Remember, we vote into office those who represent us and make these new laws. Let’s keep them aware that we’re paying attention and we hold the power of their offices in our hands during this election year.
I’d like to hear how you celebrated the New Year (if you did). I received a video Sunday morning of fireworks and a party in Thailand, many hours before our celebrations here in Colorado. It was kind of comforting knowing that the New Year actually did arrive and I didn’t have to worry about whether the world ended at the stroke of midnight.
The floor is yours...